Into the illusion
by Laughing Jackdaw
Summary: alternative title: 'Obito and the Aya(Ka)kashi'. AU: After getting himself lost in the forest and disrupting a festival of Gods, Uchiha Obito has to get along with an odd spirit called Kakashi, who, for some reason, has been assigned to protect him from vengeful spirits out for his blood. While Obito struggles with grasping the concepts of Chakra, Kakashi is struggling to wake up.
1. Obito and the Spirit Banquet

**A/N: Hello to those whom may concern it, this is the first chapter of a story I've been thinking of writing for quite a while now. I know that I should not have started another multi-chaptered story, but I simply couldn't help myself.  
I sincerely hope you'll like this little, but rather confusing, plot-bunny of mine. I hope that it will not be too confusing though... (And in advance, my apologies for 'out-of-characterness').  
The setting is definitely _AU_, but with a little twist it can fit in canon somehow as well, I hope. Explanations will follow in upcoming chapters, and questions (and constructive criticism) are greatly welcomed.**

This is my tribute to the progressions of the Naruto-manga. Please, enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. This is a fanfiction-site, after all.

* * *

**Chapter One  
Obito and the Spirit Banquet**

The forest was silent. It seemed as if the wind did not dare to blow, and as if no animal dared to breathe. Everything was immersed in some kind of utter, and unnatural stillness. No leaf moved, and no insect crawled upon the bark of trees. The faint light of the moon high above the foliage lit up the darkness just a little. It was as if something important was missing, but the absence of what was unknown. The entire forest was holding in its breath, as if it was expecting something to happen.

Not noticing the odd atmosphere, Uchiha Obito stomped through the thicket, intent on finding his way home. In the silence of the forest, his clumsy steps were unusually loud as he walked over dried leaves and twigs, crunching them with his sandals, leaving a trail of both sound and physical traces in environment.

The young teen – only thirteen years old – did not care he was being loud, or destructive. Somehow, he had gotten lost, and was wandering around in the forest for what felt like an entire day already. He had been hanging out with his friends Rin, Gai and Asuma just this morning; they had picnicked, but he'd managed to stray too far from them as they had started a what-should've-been short walk in the forest.

Grumbling – and definitely _not_ crying – Obito kept on making his way through the prickly bramble and through the mud. After a while, he sat down on a log, and started removing the tiny thorns from the fabric of his clothes. He groaned, and wiped his eyes. He was tired, dirty, hungry and thirsty. His family must be worried sick, and Rin – oh, dear, sweet Rin – she must've been crying ever since they'd lost him! And he always felt terrible when Rin felt terrible because of him!  
He tried to wipe his runny nose, and decided that going on would only lead him deeper into the forest. He would have to spend the night here, in the dirt, all alone. Obito stood up, and went to lie down behind the log. The boy was about to close his eyes when he caught sight of a movement.

He blinked.

Indeed, a small light appeared from the base of the log. The fickle light danced in front of his eyes, and it flew into the darker parts of the forests, where the light of the moon could not reach.

'A firefly.' Obito thought, 'It's just a firefly.' This thought was quickly forgotten when another faint light emerged from underneath the log – a flickering blue light, as if it were a snake slithering through the air, long and thin, a trail of bright smoke. Obito followed it with his eyes, unable to move. When he had mustered up some courage, he looked up, and from every direction, faint, odd-coloured lights in weird shapes floated in the sky. They moved silently, no leaf rustled as they passed by. Their presence was ghostly, but not eerily so. The young Uchiha swallowed.

The lights were all moving into the same direction, deeper into the forest. It was that moment Obito realized that the whole time he'd been wandering, there had been no sound at all, and he felt terribly afraid. He laid next to the log, and tried desperately to not make any sounds, not wanting to attract the attention of whatever was floating above him. His heart was pounding into his ears, and his blood rushed, fear taking hold of him.

When three orange lights jumped past him, much like frogs, his fear slowly subsided. These _things_ did not seem to bear any interest in him. Shortly after the three hopping lights, more of them emerged, and now both ground and sky were the terrain of the faint, flickering lights.  
The longer Obito watched them, the more comfortable he grew. The sudden disappearance of his fear did not seem odd to him, and he felt strangely relieved watching the lights pass him by. In an impulse, the brave, but stupid boy sat up, and reached out to touch one of the fickle things. It evaded his fingers, but Obito had felt a strange sensation, a weird feeling of prickling warmth and energy – it was not familiar, but it felt as if it _should be_.

Mesmerized, and not knowing what those things were, Obito stood up, and ran after them.  
He tried to catch the firefly-like lights, but they were fast. He tried to catch the snake-like things, but they evaporated like smoke, and appeared a few metres away. The hopping things were impossible to even grasp at.  
In the swarm of ghostly lights, the human-boy was lead deeper into the forest.

After a while, Obito thought he could hear music. Far off, but yet very close, he could hear the sounds of drums, and of flutes. He could smell a sweet smell – was that cotton candy? – and his mouth started watering as many different smells of food invaded his nose thrills.

Some of the lights had started swarming closer together, and they took on the shape of real, solid, taller creatures. Obito watched in awe as the lights became human-like animals, and he was amazed when he started seeing stalls selling foods and masks. There were enough of the flying lights left to lighten up the place, and the light was pleasant to the eyes. The entire scenario seemed something grasped right out of another world.  
The animals were conversing with each other, and eating, and some were playing music or engaging themselves in games Obito had never seen before.

It was that moment he realized: he was at a festival for spirits, a spirit banquet. He was not supposed to be here, but he was. The spirits grew in numbers, and the Uchiha saw multiple frogs (some of them were smoking and wore coloured vests), some monkeys with beautiful swords, cats with hats, and lots of giant slugs.

Even though Obito knew that he was not allowed to be here, he did not feel afraid, but rather he felt at home. The spirits were chatting amiably and the food looked so alluring. His stomach rumbled – he would not leave this festival before he'd eaten something.  
He hadn't had anything in over twelve hours, and his body was screaming at him to get some of the beautiful-looking, tasty food. His common sense did tell him that just walking in looking like a human would be a bad idea – his smell would've been altered by walking around in the swarm of spirit-particles, or whatever those lights were – and Obito pulled up his collar. Now the lower part of his face was covered, and his orange goggles would hide his eyes; he would be unrecognizable, or at least, he wouldn't be noticed for a few minutes, he hoped.

He casually walked towards the nearest stall that sold food. The food looked a little strange – he could get something that looked like squid, but it was emitting a weird light, or a bag of dark, pill-like candies that did not smell sweet at all, it seemed to give off a bitter smell, and he was sure it wouldn't taste nice at all. He moved on, making sure not to bump into anyone or anything. He felt like a spy – an amazing spy at that. What would his friends think when he told them this story? They'd be impressed for sure!

The next food stall was crowded with frogs. It sold fried, raw, and cooked insects pierced on a stick. The spirits were eating it heartily, and Obito wasn't sure if he should try it or if he should be disgusted.

"Hey, you!" A red frog wearing a daimyo's hat and vest called him. Obito was caught staring, and he averted his eyes quickly. He resumed walking.

"Hey, hey, you! I am talking to you, goggle-boy!" The frog was following him. Obito stopped, his heart beating faster every second, and turned to face the spirit-animal.  
The red creature smirked, "I have never seen you here before, you're new here, kiddo?"  
Oh. It just wanted to socialize. Obito nodded his head, struck dumb by surprise.

"I am glad to see you, buddy!" The frog laughed, "It's always good to see when one of us awakens! Oh, yes! Kurama-dono will be very, very happy! There are so many of us this year!"  
The spirit rambled. Obito didn't understand what was going on, but he wisely kept his mouth shut, and kept on nodding his head as if he understood. Then, his stomach rumbled again.

"Oh, kiddo, you're hungry, huh?"  
Obito nodded his head again.

"You're not much of a talker, but lets fill that stomach of yours then!" And the frog grasped his arm as if he was a friend. Obito resisted the urge to pull away, not wanting to anger the frog, and too afraid to cause trouble. He was not supposed to attract any attention at all, not now.

"What would you like to eat?" The frog asked, and Obito didn't know whether he should answer or not. The frog frowned at him when he didn't reply, but dragged him off towards the insect-food selling stall anyways, "This is where the best fried insects of the entire festival are sold!"

Obito ended up with a giant fried worm on a stick and an expectant frog watching his every move. Nervously, Obito scrunched up his nose, lowered his collar slowly, and took a bite.  
It didn't taste that bad, and he smiled unconsciously. The frog laughed, and said something to two other frogs about 'No one can dislike Grandma's fried food! No one!' All of the frogs laughed croakily. Some took drags of their pipes, and exhaled long, smoky breaths, and Obito finished his worm-on-a-stick.

The company of frogs – he had a gang of about four froggy-friends now – was enjoyable. They were happy creatures by nature, and they knew exactly where the funniest games were, or the best food, or where the most beautiful (and cheapest) items were.  
The tall, blue frog with the baritone voice had won him an orange mast, which now rested on top of his head, and the green frog with long legs had paid for his cotton candy. Obito was enjoying himself thoroughly, and his newfound buddies were exceedingly happy as well. The teen almost forgot that he did not belong at this festival.  
He almost missed the comment from one of the frogs that he smelled like a human. The boy then grabbed the paw of the red frog that he had met first, and dragged him off towards the nearest stand that sold decorated fans. The frog's smell should cover his own, he hoped.

The spirit selling the fans was a grey cat, and Obito had the sticking feeling he had met this feline before, but he could not remember where. The frogs – the gang had joined them – were all amazed by the paintings on the fans, and Obito stared at a giant fan, on which scenery was painted. It was not a normal painting, for the water of the waterfall was moving, and the cranes would walk around in the tiny painted pond. It was a magical piece of work – something only spirits could create.

The cat crept closer, "Beautiful, isn't it?" She purred. "Yes," Obito answered breathlessly. His eyes trailed the linings of the water, and he was sure he was gaping slightly. Meanwhile, the cat had smirked, and came even closer, her head now almost touching his ear, but Obito did not notice.

She whispered, "It's not often _humans_ enter this world. Especially not _Uchiha._"  
Obito yelped.  
"Human!" The cat meowed bitterly, "This boy is an impostor! He's human! Human!"

All hell broke lose that second. The frogs that had previously spend a nice few hours with him seized him, and the cat scratched at his eyes, the goggles preventing them from being gouged out. Spirits came from every direction, and their bright eyes were fixated on him, burning right through him. Then, Obito's world faded into darkness.

When consciousness came to him, he was tied up, and lying in front of two absolutely gigantic, bright orange, nine-tailed foxes, who looked at him from above.  
_  
'Kurama-dono.'_ He realized. He was in deep trouble now.

The fox on the right had a darker fur than the one of the left, but other than that, they seemed identical. When they spoke, their two voices were one.

"How dare you enter our domain," They said in a voice that could make mountains tremble, and Obito quivered.  
"For a human to just waltz in here – for someone like _you _– for an unawaken being to enter this place, it's _unforgivable._ What _are _you doing here, _boy_?"

The young Uchiha couldn't talk, couldn't move. He felt as if he could pass out again.

"_Who_ are _you?_" They asked. Their voices echoed through the forest – were they even still in the forest? – and all the spirits watched the event unfold with sparkling eyes. Their energy surrounded Obito, and he felt as if this energy, this light, should be something he knew, but this too, along with every other thought, was consumed by fear of what might happen to him. The two foxes, who were both part of the great Kurama-dono, master of the forest, lord of the spirits, would punish him for his trespassing, and he might never see his family or friends again.  
Oh, Gods, he didn't want to die, he didn't want to die! He didn't want to end up as spirit-food, like the worm or the cotton-candy he'd had before!

Kurama-dono extended their paws, and they pointed at him, "You'll feel our wrath, human, you'll feel the power of those who were sealed away."

Obito still couldn't talk, but he did start crying. He sniffled, and tried to stifle his sobs – he had always imagined to die of old age, married to his beautiful Rin, with lots of grandchildren surrounding him, or that he would die at the prime of his life, in some kind of heroic sacrifice that would safe the entire world or something. He had never imagined he would die like this. Not like this, never like this.

"Kyuubi-sama," Someone spoke up, "I think you are being rather… hasty. Putting him to death in a terrible way won't be of much use to us, now will it?"

Obito, who had been watching the two foxes with a feverish concentration, saw how they turned their heads to see who was speaking to them. He too, tried to turn his head, and watched as the crowd of gazing spirits parted to let one of them pass.

A spirit who looked like a human in his twenties lazily moved towards Obito. His hair was a strange, light silver, and a red strap of cloth covered both of his eyes, as if he was blind. He was smiling lopsidedly, unemotionally, and stopped in front of Kurama-dono. The human-like spirit bowed his head.

"You may speak, Scarecrow." Kurama-dono said to him.

"I think this human will be the one who can awaken all of us." The silver-haired spirit said bluntly. Everyone gasped, and the spirits watching started murmuring to each other. This truly was an unusual festival this year.

"Why do you think so? Tell me your reason." The fox-lords spoke.  
He resumed, "Uchiha Obito: this man can be both our saviour and our destruction. We should take care of this matter – or rather, him – with care."

"_Uchiha Obito_? Are you sure?" The powerful masters asked, outraged. Their overflowing energy had become angry, and it washed in waves over the crowd. Obito was about to faint when the man-spirit started talking again. His voice was bored, but there was a calmness and certainty in it that would not allow objection, "I am sure, at least _I_ should know who he is, now wouldn't I? Uchiha Obito. Our bane and our hero. When handled well, he'll save us all, Kyuubi-sama."

"What is it that you are implying, _Scarecrow_?"

"I am implying that we should… release him, under certain conditions, of course. I think that we should teach him of our… related pasts, and that we should teach him the ways to break the seals that are holding us all in place. He's the only one who can do this, after all."

Kurama-dono seemed to think, and was quiet for a while. Many spirits were frantic. Their chatter was chaotic, disturbing, and filled with terror. Some seemed to agree with the one called Scarecrow, others seemed to disagree furiously with his idea, whatever his idea meant. All Obito hoped for was that he was not to get eaten.  
He wanted to live!

He wanted to live!

The foxes spoke again, and their voice was both frightening and beautiful, "Very well. We have thought of a solution. We shall indeed allow _OBITO_ to leave, but only when one of us shall teach him our ways, our history, and our release. Scarecrow, you, who have known him and thought of this plan, shall be his teacher and his guide. If you fail, or if _OBITO_ turns his back on you, we shall not hesitate to _kill_ you both. This is our judgement."

Scarecrow bowed deeply, "Thank you, Kyuubi-sama. I will not fail – I will not promise I won't, as I tend to break them, but _I will not fail_. I can assure you of this."

The spirits surrounding them went into uproar, but Kurama-dono silenced them with one mighty roar, "_SILENCE YOU FOOLS."  
_  
The ropes holding Obito disappeared into thin air, and he was allowed to sit up, afraid and dazed, not comprehending what was going on. Scarecrow knelt in front of him, sporting a what could-be sympathetic smile, "Are you alright, Obito?" The boy didn't react.

The spirit sighed, "Alright. You have heard the conditions of your release. If you want me to come with you, you'll have to do something for me, do you understand?" Obito nodded slowly, trying to understand what the spirit was telling him.

"I want you to close your eyes," Obito did what was asked of him, not disobeying the man, or rather, spirit, who would give him a chance to go and live, "and now think of my right eye. I am blind, you see? I want you to imagine me with a right, properly functioning, normal eye. Think, Obito. Imagine. _Imagine and you will create it._"

Obito was still in shock, but he thought of an eye. He imagined a dark, black eye – a normal, average human-eye.

"_Imagine. Make it real. Give me sight._" Scarecrow's voice called out to him.

Obito thought more, and painted with his mind the picture of the eye. It was vivid, real, with a dark iris and a dark pupil. Scarecrow let out a pained yelp, and Obito's eyes shot open.  
The spirit held his hands over the red cloth where his right eye should've been. He was in pain, obviously, but he was grinning, showing sharp teeth in what could be a smirk out of pain or happiness. Obito was terrified.

After a while of utter silence, Scarecrow sat up straight, and started unwinding the red cloth that covered his eyes. Slowly, they were revealed. He opened them.

Red and black stared at Obito, and they were overflowing with hope, sadness, and determination. The Uchiha realized that he had given the spirit a new eye, a black, human eye, and he marvelled at the unknown power that had caused his imagination to create new sight for another being. The red eye was unnerving though. Three tomoe were spinning lazily in a blood-red iris. It truly was an eye of a God – which Scarecrow must've been, a God, otherwise the Lord of the forest wouldn't have listened to him.

"Thank you, Obito." Scarecrow said, and he helped Obito up, "Now, shall we leave?"  
Obito nodded dumbly, and the silver-haired spirit picked him up and disappeared in a whirlwind of smoke and swirling leaves.

Kurama-dono and the other spirits watched them leave, and they too were filled with hope and fear of the future.  
_  
"Don't you fail your mission, Hatake Kakashi. Don't you fail Obito a third time."  
_

* * *

_tbc_


	2. Obito and the Spirit

**Chapter two  
Obito and the Spirit**

Kakashi moved fluidly through the trees, carrying a very confused and dazed boy in his arms. The man-spirit halted on a large, strong branch, and gingerly seated the young Uchiha against the base of the tree, carefully moving him so that he could not fall off. Falling down and hitting the ground from such a height would probably kill a human easily, and that was exactly what he was trying to avoid.

Obito was in a half-awake state, not wholly here, but not wholly there as well. Kakashi supposed that it would do well to just let him rest a little more. The night wasn't over just yet – though it felt as if time itself had stopped – and they would have plenty of time before the sun would come out.

Kakashi looked up at the moon, and growled at it. He continued to stare it down until he found that he could no longer go on without blinking, and he closed his eyes.

He too sat down, in front of the strangely still and unresponsive human boy. How long had it been since he'd seen a human like him? How long had it been since he had seen a solid, _real_ human like him? How much time has passed since he had been wrapped up in a world not his own? How much time has passed since he had last seen _Obito_? He didn't know anymore. He'd forgotten whether he was just twenty-eight, or if he was over a hundred years old already. He simply didn't know, not anymore, and he wasn't sure if he'd ever _really_ known how old he was.

Kakashi scratched his nose and sniffed the air to think of something else. He could smell the earth, and the trees, and Obito, but he could also smell rock, and blood, and burnt wood. He grunted, not used to the smell of _living and dying _mixed together. Yes, he could take both at the same time, but he wasn't used to this weird mixture. He'd never felt more broken into two halves of a whole than he felt in that moment. Being an ephemeral being truly sucked.

The red scarf that had previously hidden his eyes was still in his possession, and now it was of no use anymore. Or perhaps it could find a new purpose? Kakashi took the fabric in his hands, and looked at it with both eyes. It was not real.  
The not-quite-spirit then wrapped it around the lower part of his face, and he took a deep breath. Now all he could smell was the earth, and the trees, and Obito, and he was happy. It felt nice, having cloth covering his nose, mouth, and cheeks rather than his eyes. He was grateful for the smells the forest emitted – he had missed them and he loved them.

The silver-haired spirit watched his surroundings with newfound curiosity. Firstly, he would close his black eye, and his red eye would take in all the sights. He was disgusted with what he saw, but he could feel a childish amusement and anticipation at what would happen next. Then, he closed his God-eye, and started watching the world with his black eye. He could see the trees, and when he touched the bark of the tree, he could _see _and_ touch _the bark_. _It shouldn't have been a new sensation, but it was, and Kakashi was thrilled by the experience. How long ago had it been since he could see the world like this?

He'd been blind for so long, he'd been lost for years it seemed. Obito had given him sight. Again.

With his black eye, Kakashi looked at the young teen in front of him. This Obito wasn't very different from the precious person he'd known when he had been young himself. They had the same spiky, black hair, the same round face, and they even wore the same orange goggles. The Uchiha was tanned, and though his face was a little smudged with dirt – as were his clothes, by the way, proof that he'd been wandering in the forest – Obito did not seem to be as dirty as he used to be whenever he'd been on patrol during the Third War.

_Did the Wars even happen?_

Kakashi clenched his fists, and immediately opened his red eye as the thought invaded his mind. Now the Obito who was a Boy changed into a tall, unconscious man with an eerily white skin, horrible deformed scars, and a god-like presence to him. The Obito who was a Boy was actually the Obito who was a God, and Kakashi remembered why he was a spirit, not a human in this world. He was part of the illusion, but yet he was not.

Kakashi knew very well that his existence was very fickle– he was like a whiff of smoke, and could disappear at any time once Kyuubi's festival would end in three days. He just was not strong enough to exist on his own, without support.  
He would need Obito – and lots of soldier pills, really – to exist in this place. He would need Obito to believe in him. If the boy would not, then he'd simply disappear and have to wait until next year, when Kyuubi would gather chakra again, granting him existence. Then again, if Obito wouldn't believe in him, then he would probably disappear forever, actually.  
But _then again_, if Obito _didn't already_ believe he'd exist, would he even be in this world?  
This was the stuff headaches were made of, and for just a second, Kakashi was glad he was unable to feel pain like that. He'd just feel uncomfortable and unsure, but he would never get headaches again.

The not-quite-spirit smirked at himself. How pathetic he'd become! In _that_ world, he had denied himself human existence, but ever since he'd become part of this world, he would give everything he had to simply _exist._  
And he wanted all of the others to _exist_ as well. He wanted to be real. He wanted the real world to be real again, but the lines between real and illusion had faded to a blur, and he was caught right in the middle of it.

Kyuubi was real. The summons were real. Naruto was real. He was real. He wasn't real. Naruto was dreaming. Kakashi was a ghost.

The silver-haired man groaned loudly, and grasped his head in both hands. Perhaps he would not get any headaches, but he could still feel the mental weight of his previous deeds and the weight of the future _and_ the weight of constant questioning himself and his life. He felt as if he was getting crazy, and maybe he had gotten funny in the head ages ago. Already, he could feel the edges of his consciousness fraying; he became aware that he was too far away from the Chakra-source of the Kyuubi.  
He searched his medicine-pack for a soldier-pill, and found one. He looked at his hands before eating the bitter marble. His fingers were getting transparent at a frightening speed. He unwound his red scarf, and popped up the pill, swallowing it whole, not bothering to chew.

* * *

When Obito woke up, he felt a little dizzy. What the hell had happened to him? He couldn't fully remember, and everything was a bit of a haze. He groaned as he sat up straight, feeling nauseous all of sudden. Then, he almost fell off the branch of a more than 10 ft. tall tree.

Before he really could fall down, a thin arm yanked him back and hoisted him against the base of the tree, onto the branch, to safety. The teen looked up with fear, anxiously, still shocked from almost falling to his death, and he screamed when he saw exactly who his saviour was. It was that spirit from before, the one who had stood up for him at the Spirit festival of Kurama-dono. Memories of that event – which had been both miraculous as well as absolutely horrible – came rushing back to the human boy, and he started trembling.

"Yo, Obito." The silver-haired spirit said with a grin, and he gave a little wave as if to tell him 'hi, pleased to meet you.' The young Uchiha blinked at this gesture, and almost screamed again.

"Take it easy." The spirit told him with a smile on his face, though Obito could only see the evidence of his expression thanks to the two eyes above the red scarf closing into two happy arcs. "I am not going to eat you, nor will I let you fall down. You're safe with me."

"W-what…. a-are you?" Obito stuttered.

"Me?" The spirit was surprised, "I'm your guardian from now on. You can call me Kakashi if you like." He stayed silent for a while, and then said rather indignantly, "And I'm not a 'what', I'm a 'person'. Though, I am not like you, I suppose."

The spirit called Kakashi moved to sit comfortably on the branch, as if he'd been in the same position a thousand times before, "Now that I have introduced myself, who – or as you eloquently put it – 'what' are you, Obito?"  
Obito backed up against the base of the tree, "H-how do you know my name?"

The boy was sure Kakashi was grinning at him the moment when he started answering the question, "You have an awful lot of spiritual energy, 'Chakra', as we call it, and I couldn't help myself wanting to take a look at you." He opened his red eye and pointed at it, "Because of this eye, I learnt a little more about you than I had expected – more than just your energy-flow and nature. Among that was your name, your ancestry, and where you're from, which is Konoha no Sato."  
The silver-haired person leaned his head on top of his hand, which was in turn resting on his knee, "But I'd much rather hear a little about yourself from yourself, seeing we'll be stuck with each other for quite a while."

Obito would much rather have fallen down from the tree than having to converse with a unknown, and perhaps dangerous _spirit. _He started crying from tension, and tried to wipe his eyes as soon as he could feel the moisture burn in the corners of his eyes. He pulled up his orange goggles and moved his hands furiously over his eyes, afraid, angry, and ashamed.

"Got some dust in your eyes?" Kakashi asked in a what-could-be lightly concerned tone.

Hearing the familiar excuse coming from another person made Obito's blood boil for some reason, and he objected furiously, still crying, "No, I'm afraid okay! I'm terribly scared!"

Kakashi stared at him with his black eye. His red eye was closed. He didn't say anything.

The silence continued, with exception from Obito's quiet sobs, and they sat there, awkwardly, until the moon faded and birds started chirping.

After a while, Kakashi spoke up, "I… I'm sorry."  
"Huh?" Obito said intelligently between the sobs.

"I never meant to scare you. I mean, all I wanted was to… I never wanted…" The spirit coughed, and rubbed the back of his head with his left hand, "I never plan on ruining first impressions, but to be honest, I've never been good at starting a friendship – or a normal conversation, for that matter – and my last time talking to someone _human_ has been so long ago, I'd almost forgotten what it was like…" He was rambling, looking seriously uncomfortable with the entire situation.  
Obito got the urge to tell hem that it was all right, but then he remembered he was scared.

Kakashi continued, "If you want me to properly introduce myself, I'll try, but I'm not used to give straight answers, you see. I can try, but I can't guarantee I'll be honest…"

The spirit moved to a standing position as he was trying to regain his calm somewhat. Obito stared with his mouth wide open at the man-spirit, as he was simply standing on two feet on the branch without looking even slightly unbalanced at all. Kakashi would've looked pretty normal in the light of the sun (aside from the fact that he was standing on a _branch_), if only it wasn't for his weird silver-coloured hair, his unnaturally pale skin, and for the fact that he _did not have a shadow.  
_  
Obito tried to calm himself down. He had been crying long enough, he mused, and the spirit seemed to be genuinely trying to establish some kind of friendly contact. Perhaps it was Obito's turn to try and be nice. Kakashi had saved him from a certain death, after all. Obito should be grateful for that, and at least return the courtesy of introduction – even though Kakashi seemed to know who he was already. The human was still a little apprehensive of the man-spirit in front of him. Obito scrutinized his new self-proclaimed guardian, and decided that he was probably the most colourless person he'd ever met in his entire life. Kakashi was clothed in different shades of grey, with exception from the red scarf, that is.

Obito clenched his fists and put up a brave face, looking Kakashi straight in the eye. He slowly tried to stand, to match the spirit's height at least a little, but Kakashi stopped him, "We'll go down first. It wouldn't do well for either of us if you were to fall down and break your neck." Then, the goggle-wearing boy was picked up, and the silver-haired person just _jumped_ down to the ground, lightly landing on his bare feet.

When Obito was on standing on his own two feet again, he couldn't contain his smile, "That… That was so cool! How did you do that?! You, like, jumped 10 ft. down – and you landed like… like that! Awesome!" All of his previous fears and suspicions had disappeared into thin air.

Kakashi rubbed the back of his head again – seemingly it was his way to express embarrassment, "Heh…"

Obito continued grinning, "Amazing! I've never seen people do that! Yeah, they can do stuff like that in manga or movies, but you can do it for real! For real! Oh, what would Asuma say if I told him this! I bet everyone would gape if they'd seen it! You're awesome, Kakashi!"

Kakashi's new eye seemed to light up in happiness after the praise, and Obito couldn't help but ask, "Can you do more stuff like this, like jumping from branches and standing on them without falling off? Can you? Can you?"

The silver-haired spirit seemed a little taken aback by this, "Well… I suppose I could."

Obito shouted in eagerness, "Show me!"

Kakashi closed his eye, and looked like he was putting a great deal of effort into something. Suddenly, he held up his hand, where sparks of electricity were dancing in his palm. Obito stared at it in wonder, marvelling at the blue energy sparking into life right in front of his eyes. Kakashi made a fist, and the electricity disappeared. He hid his hand in his sleeve once again, "That'll be enough for now." He sounded a little tired as he said that, as if making the electricity appear had exhausted him, though he was trying to hide how much it had cost him, obviously.

Obito almost pouted before remembering that he was thirteen years old and therefore did not pout anymore.

Instead of pouting, Obito grabbed Kakashi's sleeve, "Hey, Kakashi, shall we go to try finding the way to Konoha now? I bet everyone is worried about me, and I'd like to introduce you to my friends! I'm sure they'll think you're just awesome!"

The older spirit simply nodded, and said, "I know how to get there. Let's go home."

* * *

**A/N: I hope you were able to enjoy the story so far.**

**Also, I wanted to give my special thanks to the wonderful reader (and reviewer) Prescripto13, who has reviewed lots of Naruto-based stories, and delighted the writers with her comments. It's great she is willing to do this, and I think that it deserves some thought.**

**Anyway, have a nice day, and enjoy the other ****fan fictions on this site!**


	3. Obito and Kakashi

**Chapter three  
Obito and Kakashi**

The oddest of duo's walked through the forest. Uchiha Obito was still holding onto Kakashi's sleeve, letting him lead the way to Konoha. It never struck Obito as weird that the man-spirit knew the way – the silver-haired being must've been around for a long period of time, and would therefore know almost every path in the forest, Obito mused.

As they walked, the trees, which had been huge and old before, started growing thinner and younger. The bushes became less wild, and Obito could hear more and more birds high above them as the foliage thinned out. The atmosphere was so unlike the stillness he had experienced yesterday he would've written off the entire ordeal as a dream if it weren't for the fact that his new spirit-guardian was walking in front of him with a sure, steady pace.

They stopped for a while at a small clearing, allowing the teen to rest a little before continuing. Obito drank a little from the clear water of a near-by stream; glad he could quench his thirst. He had never known this place even existed. It was tranquil, peaceful; he liked it. After a few minutes had passed and Obito seemed ready to move again, Kakashi stood and continued walking, not once looking at Obito for confirmation. After a few minutes, the spirit started talking as the young Uchiha caught up with him, "Remember I mentioned spiritual-energy, Chakra?"

Obito nodded.

"You possess a lot of this spiritual-energy. Chakra is the molding of the physical energy present in every cell of the body and the spiritual energy gained from exercise and experience. Once molded, it can be channeled through the Chakra circulatory system, which is to Chakra as the regular circulatory system is to blood, to any of the 361 Chakra points. Through various methods, the Chakra can then be controlled and manipulated to create an effect that would not be possible otherwise, such as walking on water, creating illusions, or, which I did before, leaping from trees and creating electricity. As you can see, it can become an immense power when controlled at will."

The boy wondered why the spirit was telling him this all of sudden. Kakashi continued talking.

"Chakra used to be the essence of life; it was something needed by all living creatures to survive. Nowadays though, Chakra has become what you might call 'rare' in humans, as not many people possess it anymore; they've forgotten about it. The things, creatures – the spirits – you saw yesterday are still able to mold Chakra, which is what makes us different from other humans and animals. When people forgot the Arts of Chakra, we have become more or less nonexistent in this world, and we can only appear whenever there's a huge source of Chakra nearby, such as Kyuubi-sama, who is the embodiment of the energy of the forest. Otherwise, weak spirits who cannot 'produce' enough Chakra, spirits like me, will simply disappear. I used to be a great manipulator of this spiritual energy, but my kind was sealed away by one of your ancestors. Your ancestry is what makes you special, Obito."

"I don't understand." Obito said. He was confused.

"You possess an amazing amount of Chakra, though it is unrefined and you are not trained in the Arts. Even though you are a normal human being, you will still be able to use it – that, and you have _exactly the right type_ of Chakra to be able to break our seals. Kyuubi-sama has given me the opportunity to teach you, which I will. If you don't want to be taught, I do understand, but I can assure you Kyuubi-sama will find out about that, and then kill us both, just as he promised he would. Also, now that you have appeared right in front of a gigantic crowd of spirits, you can be sure to get some… unwelcome and vengeful visitors, which I will try my best to protect you from."

"Wait, wait, what?" Obito asked bewildered, "Are you saying I have to learn something I don't understand at all? Are you implying I have to _release_ a bunch of unknown and possibly _dangerous, harmful_ spirits, which my ancestors probably sealed away for a _reason_? And… I am in danger of being attacked by evil spirits? You've got to be kidding me!" He stopped dead in his tracks, "There's no way I'm doing this. No way."

Kakashi turned around and locked eyes with him, "I understand your concern, but I can assure you no harm will befall you,  
or your precious village, if you wish. You must understand our situation; how would you like it if you were to be such a fickle being you couldn't even support your own self? You'd never be able to travel anywhere, you wouldn't be able to even taste, see, or touch anything. You would be there, but you wouldn't _exist_. Though I'm a patient person, I have gotten pretty sick of it already, and I'm pretty sure that others, less kind-hearted spirits, have gone out of their mind already. Problem is, they probably possess a lot more Chakra than I do, but at least I've got the brains to make up for my lack of strength. Don't worry, I'll keep you safe." Kakashi smiled.

"See! You just said it yourself! 'Less kind-hearted spirits'! I'll never, ever release you! I don't know your power, this – this Chakra! I don't know why you were sealed away, but you must've been evil! Evil!" _'But very, very cool.'_ Obito thought, remembering the beautiful lightning.

"I can teach you a lot of awesome stuff, like leaping through the trees like a squirrel, or how to spit fire from your mouth, or how to make cherry-blossoms bloom on a winter's day…" The man-spirit offered.  
He did seem offended by being called 'evil'. "And besides, not everyone was evil. Sure, the power we had could be used to destroy, but so can any man who owns a simple shovel and a reason, for kami's sake. There were _healers_ amongst us as well, and _kind-hearted Gods who brought hope and warmth to all_…" He seemed to struggle to find the right words, "… I- I never did want to cause any hurt. None of us did, I guess. We were just born at the wrong time, in the wrong place…"

Kakashi whirled on his heels, turning his back to Obito, who was still shocked and angry. The taller being straightened his shoulders, and his emotions were closed-off once again. In a calm, bored voice he said, "Anyway, even if you don't want to learn anything, I'll still be at your side. You have revealed yourself to our world, Uchiha Obito, and I cannot stand by without trying to protect you now that you have been entrusted to me. Whether you like it – or me - or not, we'll be stuck together. If you change your mind, and want to gain power to protect yourself and your friends, I'll gladly be of service. Until then, I'll just be your guardian, nothing more, nothing less." Kakashi sounded serious and business-like.

He cleared his throat, and rubbed the back of his neck once again, "My, my, this must've been the longest talk I've had in ages! Now I remember why I never was much of a talker anyway…" He sounded a lot more light-hearted than he had a few seconds before.

Obito swallowed. He was sure he had managed to offend the spirit, but Kakashi's mood had changed incredibly fast, and the teen wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

The spirit moved on, but Obito stayed put. He couldn't just go and walk besides a _thing_ that wanted him to give him something he could never grant. He wasn't cut out for this. Sure, Obito was loud-mouthed, a little brash, and of course he wanted to have attained something amazing when he'd grow up – he wanted to be a hero, but that didn't mean that he'd just give in to the tempting words of some unnatural stranger, even though said stranger acted nicely and had saved his life once. Yet, Obito did want to go home, and if the only way to do that was by following Kakashi, then he would. When they would reach the gates of the village, Obito would think of some kind of solution, but until then, travelling companions they would be.

Obito sprinted to Kakashi's side after fighting with himself inside his mind. He looked up at the man-spirit with a, what he hoped to be, brave, determined look in his eyes. Kakashi stared back at him, smiled weakly, and suddenly, on impulse, Obito grabbed his hand, urging him to guide the way through the forest.

Kakashi's hand was cold, and Obito started wondering if Kakashi too was made up of those tiny lights he'd seen yesterday before the festival. Most likely, he was, but the boy didn't want to ask (personal) questions anymore after having confronted the spirit about his nature in such a rather harsh way.

…If only he could at least learn how to listen to his own advice, "…. But really, _what are you?"  
_  
Kakashi sighed exasperatedly, "My, my, didn't I tell you already? I'm not a 'what', I'm a 'person'…"

Obito shook his head, "No, no, no! That's not what I meant! I meant… uh…" He looked at the ground, a little embarrassed, "I meant: if you could manipulate Chakra, whatever that may be, why don't you just manipulate it in such a way you can 'exist'? You can create lightning – why can't you…? Well, why not?"

"As I said before, I don't possess a lot of Chakra, meaning my life – my existence – is fickle, like the flame of an oil-candle with not much oil left to burn on. I cannot sustain my own body for a long period of time simply because my own Chakra will be exhausted before long, and when that happens, I'll disappear. I'm a weak ghost like that. Your nearby source of Chakra is giving me barely enough energy to be able to take on this form."

Obito nodded as if he understood, though in reality, he could only just grasp the concept. Kakashi was pretty cool – weird, and possibly evil, but cool – and the image-conscious teen wanted to make a good impression, even if the other person was an evil spirit or something.

Obito hummed as if he was really thinking about the matter, and closed his eyes in what he thought would make him appear more intelligent and thoughtful. Noticing Obito's rather idiotic acting, Kakashi was amused.

The man-spirit spoke up again, "You could help me out even more on that part though. You can let me borrow some of your Chakra, and it seems that your energy is strong enough to even shape some things in this world. You did give me an eye to look with after all, and I figured that if you were able to do that, you could help me keeping whatever form I would take on. I even believe that, perhaps, in time, you could learn how to shape this _reality_ just like your ancestors did…" Kakashi touched his closed left eye, "At least, that's what this eye of mine told me, and I can trust it."

Obito almost asked just what that mysterious eye of Kakashi's could actually _see, _but before he could do that the spirit suddenly halted.

He was tapping his chin lightly with his fingers, and hummed in thought, just like Obito had done a few seconds ago. Unlike Obito, Kakashi truly was thinking of something, and the human boy became curious. He hopped from one leg to the other, not able to contain his eagerness, "What is it, Kakashi?"

"Hmmm… Maybe… Just maybe, we can try something…"

"What? What can we try?"

Kakashi shrugged, "Maa… I'm not sure…"

"Tell me!"

"Well, perhaps we could try preforming a little trick. Nothing impressive, really…"

"_Tell me_!"

"As you wish. You could _try_ changing my appearance a little." Kakashi crossed his arms, and leaned against a tree with a slouch, "First of all, it'll make me more accustomed to having to rely on your Chakra. Secondly, you can see how awesome being taught by me is, and third, even if you don't want me around anymore, I'll have to be somewhere near you anyways, which means I will have to blend in with the crowd, now won't I?"

"Eh?" Obito could see the logic behind the first and the last point, and he decided that adding the second point was the spirit's idea of a joke, but to be honest, Obito didn't really understand what the hell he was supposed to do.  
Kakashi noticed this – it wasn't hard to miss the utterly confused look on Obito's face – and he ran a hand through his hair, "I can change my shape at will, but I don't have enough Chakra to change myself for an extended period of time. With my current Chakra-levels, I can keep up the change for two minutes at most."  
_  
'That is short indeed,'_ Obito thought, _'and… I would be able to change that…? I knew I was awesome, but I never would've guessed that I could help out a spirit…"  
_  
Then Obito blinked rapidly as another thought came to him, "_I'm helping out a spirit – one who might be evil and wants to get a place into the world, which might cause harm in the future, and I don't want to be the reason Konoha gets dragged into trouble again! Wait, what do I mean with 'again'? Konoha's never been in trouble…'  
_  
Obito exhaled through his nose to calm his racing mind down.

_'…Oh, but perhaps it was once, because of those spirit-things which my ancestors sealed away! But if I don't help Kakashi, I will get attacked by said evil spirits and then there's no one to protect the village from those creatures who'll seek me out! I don't want Rin to die – or get grievously hurt, that's no good as well – just because some spirits want revenge and I turned down an offer for protection… which was more of a proclamation than an offer, really… B-but honestly, what should I do? What should I do? I'm not ready to make a choice just yet!'_

So much for calming breathing-exercises. His mind was still running rampant.

Kakashi watched the human boy struggle with himself. He had crossed his arms again, and patiently waited for a response.  
Of course, he'd expected something like this would happen. It was only logical Obito wouldn't trust him, but there was a part of Obito that wanted to get to know Kakashi – and that part, combined with Obito's natural curiosity and knack for getting into trouble, was trying to overrule Obito's less developed consciousness of wariness.

When Obito looked less frantic – which was still frantic, actually – Kakashi spoke to him again, keeping his tone emotionless but friendly, "Will you try it?"

When Obito answered 'yes' with a slight stutter in his voice, a sudden gust of wind stirred the leaves of the trees. Kakashi smiled underneath his scarf. He opened his left eye shortly and let it roam over the scenery it revealed. He could see the many shapes and forms of the other 'spirits' or whatever name they went by. The creatures Obito couldn't see, the lights Obito would not be able to detect, the formless, presence-less Chakra of the world, everything was looking at the silver-haired spirit and the black-haired boy with shapeless (and possibly even unseeing) eyes filled with expectation. Kakashi closed his left eye again and left he Sharingan to rest.

When he looked at Obito again, with just his black eye opened, he could hear the Kyuubi's voice call onto him in his head ::_Don't you dare to fail. Don't you dare to abandon your mission. It was you who constructed this plan; you will now have to execute it. We are all counting on you._::

At that moment, with an afraid yet terribly excited and happy Uchiha Obito in front of him, Kakashi could feel the weight of the future crash down on his shoulders. No matter how he would feel about what he would be about to do in the near-by future, he would inevitably start the revive of the world he had known. Now that he had begun putting his carefully constructed plan into motion it could not be stopped anymore.  
Pushing worries and guilt from his mind, the man-spirit focussed on the environment his black eye showed him, and he breathed in the air of the forest, assuring himself that it would be fine. He would have to be patient. Determination and iron will would be the key to his success, and events from his past had shown him that he possessed both – now he'd just have to get through this.

"Kakashi? Kakashi? Are you alright?" Obito's words broke him from his reverie.

"Ah… were you talking to me?"

"I asked you twice, _twice_, what we were going to do – how I would help you changing your shape - but you weren't even paying attention to me…! You're one creepy old guy, you know that?"

Kakashi almost bit back that he wasn't old. He refrained himself just in time.

"Oh, right, yeah."

Great answer. Now Obito was looking at him with suspicion evident in his eyes. Kakashi raised an eyebrow at this.

"All you have to do is focus all your energy to your hands. Close your eyes… good." He told Obito, and the boy did as he was told. The young teen closed his eyes, and stretched out his hands, frowning in an effort to focus his energy to his fingertips, even though he hadn't had the slightest clue of how he could do that.

Kakashi opened both eyes, watching Obito's precious Chakra flow freely but unfocussed. The spirit touched Obito's stomach, where the centre of his Chakra-source was. Immediately, Kakashi's fingers brightened, shocked Obito with a sudden pulse of electricity, and the digits faded afterwards, becoming almost completely transparent. The man-spirit retracted his hand.

Obito jumped and opened his eyes at the shock, "What the hell!" He scrambled backwards, "What the hell was that?! You… you touched me! You shocked me!" He looked at his stomach, and then back at Kakashi, who was in turn staring at his fingers in wonder when they slowly regained their previous solidness; he didn't expect Obito to react that violently to his Chakra – he never expected to shock him.

"Your Chakra reacted a little hostile to my own. Nothing to worry about…"

"Why the hell did you touch me?!" Obviously, Obito found it more bothersome that the spirit had touched him without asking him beforehand. Kakashi decided to ignore this, "Your energy, it must flow from your centre." Kakashi pointed at it, "Now that you know this, you can try guiding it to your hands. Try imagining veins, filled with energy instead of blood."

The spirit rolled up a sleeve and pointed at the visible veins in his arm, and he traced them with his thumb, "Like blood, Chakra follows certain patterns through a complex circulatory system. The core of your energy…" Kakashi pointed at his own stomach, "…is right here. I only wanted to point it out to you."

Obito huffed, and narrowed his eyes at him. Then, after sighing as if Kakashi was the most troublesome person he'd ever met in his life, the boy closed his eyes again. Kakashi opened both eyes to watch the Chakra move. He was pleasantly surprised when he noted that the Chakra, although it was still a little chaotic, was lead into the right pathways, reaching the hands. It even circulated at the palms, and without Kakashi saying anything, Obito released the energy from his hands, the blue, warm light surrounding them.

"Amazing." Kakashi whispered.

Knowing that he should act quickly, as Obito wouldn't be able to keep up this amazing control for long, Kakashi formed the right handseals before touching the blue Chakra that was leaking from the Uchiha's fingertips. He then focussed his own Chakra to mingle with Obito's, and willed the technique to work. _'Henge!'  
_  
When Obito opened his dark eyes after hearing a loud 'poof', he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Instead of the tall man-spirit with silver-hair and broad shoulders and lazy posture, there was a thin, short, wiry kid of about thirteen with unruly grey hair standing in front of him (with his face still covered by a large, red scarf), who was surrounded by smoke and leaves that had previously not been there. Obito's mouth formed a small 'o'.

Kakashi inspected his hands and legs, moving them as if he was testing his movements. When he seemed comfortable with the transformation, he looked up at Obito with two black eyes, and smiled, "Yo. What do you think?"

Obito rubbed his eyes, and his face brightened, a grin dominating his facial expression, "Absolutely wicked!"

* * *

**A/N: I hope you liked this so far!**

**I understand if you might not get all that is going on - especially after these 'introductory' chapters - but that's kind of the idea of this story... I hope you are able to find this at least somewhat enjoyable, or just plain readable.**

**Also, I almost completely took the explanation on chakra from Naruto-Wiki... which is really helpful, by the way.**

**Enjoy your day!**


	4. Obito's homecoming

**Chapter four  
Obito's homecoming**

"There it is!" Obito shouted as he dashed forwards. Finally, finally, after hours trudging through the forest, they had found it, the large gates of Konoha no Sato, Obito's hometown.

Obito made his way forwards through the thicket, breaking twigs in the progress and almost tripping over wayward stones and roots. His happiness at seeing the high walls rise in front of him was evident in his eyes, smile, and voice. The boy looked as if he wanted to kiss the gigantic wooden barriers that surrounded his village, and when he reached them, _after tripping three times_ from sheer enthusiasm as he made his way to them _for real_, he looked as if he was seriously contemplating doing so.

Behind him, at a much slower and definitely less energetic pace, Kakashi emerged from the woods. He stopped to stare at the massive walls and marvelled at the majestic sight. The wooden barriers were almost as tall as the trees of the forest, and because the sun was setting behind them, the walls cast deep, long shadows at the ground.

The gates were wide open and the characters for 'Konoha' were painted on the wood besides them. Obito was practically prancing towards the entrance.

Behind the great walls, behind the village itself, a mountain could be seen. Men had shaped the brown rocks, and there were four faces carved into it. Four strong, stern features were staring down at the village below, silent protectors, and Obito loved seeing the Hokages again after having experienced hours of unforeseen troubles.

The boy skidded towards the entrance, and entered the village with a loud shout, "Hello Konoha! I, Uchiha Obito, have returned!"

Some villagers who passed the goggles-wearing teen by stared at him before turning away, muttering things like 'crazy youth'. The civilians were all working hard, and Obito grinned at each and every one of them as if he knew them personally. Those who noticed either smiled back, or gave him those 'you're weird' stares.

Three old ladies on a bench, who he actually did know because every so often he would carry their groceries to their houses, waved at him with amiable smiles on their wrinkled faces.  
"Hello, Obito. You were away? Well, it's a good thing you returned, though you look a little dirty; Go take a shower at home, I tell you. And my, my, have you eaten something? Here, I've got some biscuits for you…" The oldest lady, who sat in-between two her elderly friends told Obito as she searched her bag for the promised food.  
Obito smiled gallantly at her, and put his hands on his hips, "Oh, don't worry about me, granny! I am well, and will go home soon – please, you don't have to give m-" but he was interrupted by the old lady when she shoved a napkin with some cookies in his hands, "Nonsense! Take my biscuits – I have made too much anyways."

The young Uchiha bowed deeply, "Thank you, it is very kind of you." The three women grinned at him, and bade him good-bye, "Go and see your friend, Obito." They had noticed Kakashi entering the village with him, "We'll see you soon, we hope!" they said in unison.  
Obito saluted them, and ran back towards the grey-haired spirit, who looked as if he was utterly confused and lost as he kept on moving his head from side to side to track the people walking past him. It was that moment the teen realized that the now-boyish spirit was not used to cities and the hustle and bustle that came with living in such a place. Obito presumed he'd just have to show him how to interact and fit in then.

Kakashi was staring at the four faces of the Hokage, and looked back at the gates, "You don't have any sentry-guards…?" He tried to form a statement, but he ended with a question instead.

"Nope," Obito said with a smile plastered on his face, "we don't."  
"Funny." Kakashi answered, "They are not necessary?"  
"No, why would they be?"  
"…No reason." Obito raised an eyebrow at him, but didn't question it any further.

Obito made his way through the crowds, and Kakashi followed him as closely as he could. During their short walk towards home, the dark-haired teen had to drag away his spirit-guard multiple times, as Kakashi apparently was easily distracted by just about everything.  
He would sometimes suddenly stop walking, just to look at the commonest of things. He seemed almost mesmerized by shops, or people, or even the old, boring electricity posts and trees, and Obito would have to retrieve him before he'd lose him somewhere on the streets. The spirit was especially fixated on the Hokage-tower, and it took Obito quite a while before Kakashi would stop looking at the tall, red building that was the home of the leader of the village.  
Though playing tour-guide-but-not-quite was a tiresome task, the young Uchiha couldn't stop grinning the entire way until they made it to his family-estate.

His aunt Mikoto was standing at the entrance, her hands resting on her pregnant belly, probably waiting for uncle Fugaku to come home for dinner after a difficult day at the headquarters of the Uchiha Police Force.

"Auntie!" Obito said, "Auntie! I've come home!"

Immediately, Mikoto turned her head to see him approach her, "Obito? Obito!" She would've come running at him if it wasn't for the unborn baby, "We were worried sick about you! Where were you?"  
Obito almost started crying from happiness when he heard that, "Erm… I… kind of… got… lost. But now I'm back!" He said uncertainly with a goofy smirk. Aunt Mikoto hugged him tightly when he reached her, "Don't ever do that again…" She truly had been concerned for his sake.

Hearing the commotion, two young children peeked out of one of the windows with curiosity written all over their faces, and when they spotted their nephew, they greeted him, "Obito! You're back!"

"Itachi! Shisui!" Oh boy, Obito had missed his family so much, even though he'd been away for just one day. He really had gotten himself into a problematic, threatening situation, and seeing his relatives again made him incredibly glad he had survived the entire ordeal.  
More family-members came outside to greet him, and he really did start crying at that moment, surrounded by all he loved the most. His mother and father hugged him and they laughed and patted him on the head (though, his father hit him first, before crushing him in a bear-hug, saying things like _'You're an idiot!'_ and _'I love you!'_).

Meanwhile, Kakashi watched the events unfold with a melancholic smile, which was kept hidden by his red scarf. He sat on a bench in the shadows, underneath a tree and his legs dangled in the air, as his new form was just a little to short to reach the ground with his feet.  
It seemed that Obito had already forgotten about him and the biscuits, which were protectively wrapped in an old lady's napkin. Obito had unceremoniously dumped them in his lap before sprinting into the waiting arms of his aunt.

Kakashi didn't mind being overlooked this time. The Uchiha needed it, this short moment of peace and happiness.

Obito was laughing and crying at the same time, and his nephews were tugging his clothes, asking where he'd been, his parents were embracing him every few seconds. It looked like the entire clan had been summoned at his arrival, and even Uchiha Fugaku, the head of the family, who had just returned from the police station, could be seen with the semblance of a smile on his lips.

Kakashi averted his eyes. He wasn't jealous. Not at all.

He let out a deep breath, and resumed watching Obito's happy reunion with his precious family. His fingers unconsciously played with the soft edges of the napkin.

After a while, the entire family went inside the estate, still laughing and crying and being glad one of their youngest members had returned. A few minutes later, the smell of food wafted outside.

Kakashi was still sitting outside, on the bench; he really was at loss. He couldn't just waltz into the mansion, but he couldn't just stay here as well. It wasn't as if he could feel the cold that was setting in as the night approached, and it definitely wasn't as if he could feel hungry for real, but he just felt incredibly awkward just sitting underneath a tree, waiting for the other teen to remember he had brought a visitor from the forest with him.

Oh, well. Kakashi leaned his shoulder against the tree, crossed his arms. He might as well try relaxing somewhat. He'd been tense the entire time since entering the village. Konoha – _this Konoha_ – brought back memories. How much time had passed since he'd last seen it all?

With a small smile, Kakashi closed his eyes. Though sleep would never come for him this way, he could still pretend he _could_ fall asleep. The sound of the rustling leaves above him and the faraway sounds of the busier parts of the village made him feel at home, and for a moment, the spirit felt whole. Such a treasured feeling that was, he was sure he would remember this solid consciousness for days, perhaps even years after this moment.

When Kakashi chose to open his eyes again, the moon had risen into the sky already.

Obito really had forgotten about him.

Giving the stars one last contemplating look, the spirit decided that he had waited long enough, and after placing the old lady's biscuits carefully in his medicine pack, he silently moved onto the Uchiha compound. His presence went by unnoticed, and even the grass didn't do as much as stir when he lightly hopped unto the terrace, hiding himself in the shadows, avoiding places where the humans inside the enormous house could see him.

The spirit climbed upon the roof with practiced ease, and he shortly enjoyed the feeling of the wind blowing through his hair instead of blowing straight through _him_. Soon, after guessing the outlay of the mansion where Obito resided, Kakashi slid inside through an opened window, landing in the hallway without making any sound. Crouched on his knees, his entire body strung to jump and hide should it be necessary,

Kakashi sniffed the air and strained his ears to listen where the inhabitants were. When he had detected no nearby Uchiha-members, he rose to his feet and simply started walking in search for the teen who possessed so much spiritual energy. He wasn't hard to find. Kakashi's keen senses as well as his Chakra, which had attuned itself to Obito, had Obito's room pointed out to him immediately.  
As soon as Kakashi had made sure the boy was alone, he teleported himself into the room, not caring if he would scare his charge half to death.

Scaring Obito it did.

"Where the hell did _you_ come from?!" Obitio fell backwards from surprise when the spirit appeared in front of him in a swirl of smoke and leaves.

"Outside." Kakashi deadpanned as if that explained his sudden entrance. The spirit's simple 'teleportation' had created the impression that he had just appeared like that at will – which, to Obito, must've looked like a true trick only ghosts or spirits could perform.

If only the teen would know that it wasn't magic, and that Kakashi had just moved at an inhumane speed into the room, aided by a couple of smoke bombs, to make his sudden apparition. Had Obito known all of this, the entire trick wouldn't have seem so impressing and damn mysterious, but Kakashi couldn't help being gleeful when Obito looked at him with an awestruck expression painted all over his face.  
…Perhaps, if Obito would find out about the true nature of the Body-flicker Technique, the boy would be impressed by his stealth and speed instead of his cons, but those would be thoughts for another time. For now, he would cherish the childish stupefaction and admiration that shone in the eyes of the young Uchiha while he gaped at him.

One of the leaves landed on Obito's nose, and the boy gingerly took it between his fingers, staring at it with amazement. Slowly, a stupid grin grew on his face. He closed his eyes, and tensed his entire body in excitement. He released a loud, joyous laugh, "That was… _awesome_!"

The teen had been doodling on his homework before Kakashi's 'dynamic entry', and though the teen was surprised by the sudden arrival of the boy-spirit, Obito was both nervous and glad to see his spirit-guard again.

After being dragged into the main house by his relatives, the goggle-wearing Uchiha had totally forgotten about the human-like creature. Shortly after the dinner, which had been with his entire family, surprisingly, he finally remembered that he had led a grey-haired spirit into Konoha, who would need his company. Therefore, Obito had looked outside for the now boyish being – the search, if he could even call it that, lasted only a few minutes, because his mother wouldn't leave him out of her sight just yet.  
He had found no one. The bench Kakashi had installed himself had been_ unoccupied_, and Obito couldn't help but feel a little concerned, considering the spirit's previous unfocussed and dazed behaviour.

In a way, Obito had been relieved when he didn't encounter Kakashi at that moment when he'd looked for him, as it had almost seemed to Obito that he had just _imagined_ the entire ordeal with Kurama-dono and the festival, which really would have lifted a lot of weight off his shoulders.  
Having to watch out for rampant, evil, vengeful, or wrathful spirits wasn't something Obito liked to think about, and it would've been nice if it weren't something that would happen to him for real. Even so, now that it had indeed been proven real by Kakashi's reappearance, the orange-wearing Uchiha was glad to see the spirit.  
Obito's reunion with his beloved, though often stoic, family had him shaken to the core with an out-of-the-blue need to protect them. And that was exactly why Kakashi was here (or not, but that wasn't the point): to protect them, or rather_, him_, but the teen chose to ignore that particular fact.

The grey-haired spirit had settled himself on Obito's bed, and was currently leafing through some his shounen-manga as he sat in a cross-legged position. After a while, he put away the volume, and curiously peered at the shelves just above Obito's desk, on which some more manga was stacked.  
Kakashi seemed to ponder about something before asking, "Do you have anything else to read? Books? _Interesting_ manga?"  
It was such an astonishingly normal question, something one of Obito's _normal_ friends could've asked, that the human was a little taken aback. Before he could answer that he indeed was the proud owner of several awesome manga-series, which he would of course graciously lend him, the boy-spirit was already looking at the other volumes.

His eyes rapidly scanned the titles, and he picked an issue of one of Obito's many shounen-magazines. Obito blinked a few times, astounded, before grinning widely and readjusting his goggles.

"That's one of my favourite magazines! The story that starts on page 108 is especially good! It's packed with action, humour, and the protagonist is really, really strong!"

Kakashi quirked an eyebrow at Obito's rambling. The young Uchiha didn't notice, and kept on talking, blabbering on about punching villains to pulp, smashing in walls, and explosions.

Obito picked two more magazines off his shelf, opened them at particularly interesting pages, and managed to not shut up even _once, not even once,_ during the next two hours. He would often laugh loudly as he showed the boy-spirit next to him the 'incredibly funny' jokes in his manga.  
Kakashi didn't make any (dis)agreeing sounds during the entire explanation, and only slowly turned over the pages of whatever magazine was shoved in his hands by an overenthusiastic teen. The two of them were sitting down on Obito's floor as the young Uchiha ranted, and they were surrounded by many volumes and magazines; the Uchiha's homework was long since forgotten.

"So, what do you think? Cool, huh?" Obito asked as he finally calmed down a little, and he pulled up his goggles to wipe away some of the tears that had gathered in the corners of his eyes from laughing too much for too long.

Kakashi, who was laying on his back, his face hidden by a manga-volume about ninjas, raised the comic-book off his head to look at his protégé with what would probably be the most bored look Obito had ever seen.

The spirit asked, "Do you have any shoujo?"

* * *

Obito rolled over again, "Hey, Kakashi?"

"Hn?" came the non-communicational answer. The human teen sighed deeply at this, and buried his face into his pillow, mumbling something into the soft fabric, obviously annoyed.

Even though he was laying in his own bed, underneath his own covers, in his own room, he found that he simply couldn't sleep. Meanwhile, the boy-spirit was sitting on his chair, seemingly reading the 'bland' manga about ninjas, even though it was probably too dark to actually see anything but blurred lines.

Obito shortly wondered if he was actually reading it, or if he just liked to hold a book in his hands, before remembering Kakashi was a spirit with one hell of a weird eye, which probably would give him the ability to read in the dark.

"Why do you like shoujo?" This question really had been bothering the young Uchiha after Kakashi's insulting question. (Kakashi himself hadn't found it insulting at all, and somehow became upset by not understanding Obito's frustration, which had resulted in awkward silence in the end. They then decided to drop the subject for a while).

"Just because."

It wasn't much of an answer to the question, now was it?

"I'm serious."

"I am, too."

After a while the Uchiha rolled onto his back and as he propped up his arms behind his bed, he asked, "Do you need to sleep?"

"No."

"Eh?! Do you even know what 'sleeping' feels like then?" Obito sat up straight immediately, wondering with a vague fascination if the spirit was unfamiliar with the needs of human bodies. It seemed rather plausible the more Obito thought of it.

"Of course I do know what 'sleeping' feels like – I presume that I _could_ sleep," The grey-haired spirit answered dully, "It's just that I don't need it."

"Why? Don't you get tired?"

The young Uchiha could hear his supernatural roommate shift on his chair. Obito gulped loudly as a single, faint red light suddenly focussed on him. The God-eye was opened, and it was genuinely frightening to see it glow in the darkness. The boy shuddered, and almost gave in to the urge to hide underneath the covers.

"Go to sleep, Obito." Kakashi's voice was still as unemotional as ever, but the Uchiha could hear the command in it. He lay down, but could not stop staring into the red eye, and the longer Obito looked at the red glow, the more tired he became. Not even ten seconds had passed before he passed out into a deep sleep. It didn't take long before he even started snoring.  
The young Uchiha slept with his mouth wide open, causing drool to slowly drip onto his pillow rather comically.

Kakashi closed the Sharingan, and turned another page without reading.

* * *

**Thank you for reading! Have a nice day!**


End file.
